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Criminal Justice fights county cuts
MONTESANO — Some of Grays Harbor County’s elected officials who hadn’t already made a 10 percent 2010 budget cut protested the commissioners’ Oct. 20 directive to provide such a cut by Oct. 23.

The most severe opposition came from criminal justice. The Superior Court and District Court judges refused to make the cuts. Prosecutor Steward Menefee said he will wait for union discussions to detail needed cuts and Sheriff Mike Whelan lambasted commissioners for a lack of openness as he outlined the effects a 10 percent reduction would have on his department.

“I think that we’ve done everything we can do,” Commissioner Al Carter said Monday. “Law enforcement and criminal justice eats 70 cents of every dollar (we spend) and they want it all.”

Montesano’s ‘Haunted’ Photo
MONTESANO — A vintage photo long displayed at the Montesano Junior-Senior High School showcase contains the ghostly image of a young man, enlarged in inset. Legend has it that the figure is the ghost of a classmate who died before the class photo could be taken.

Book revisits Schafer history
SATSOP VALLEY — Recognize the name Johann “Dionis” Schafer? No? How about John Dennis Schafer?

Perhaps not — but many Grays Harbor folks, especially in the Satsop Valley area, are familiar with the names of three of the German immigrant’s sons, Peter, Albert and Hubert, who launched in the 1890s what would become the second largest logging operation in the county in the early part of the next century. Harbor history intertwines with the Schafers, and a new book sheds light on what they were like, especially the patriarch, who traveled from his birthplace in the German kingdom of Prussia to a remote, though lush, valley in Washington Territory. Though some good histories exist, no other contains so much intimate Schafer history — and in their own words, to boot.

Nightmare on Academy Street
MONTESANO — Jason Hensley has a skeleton in his closet. Actually, in his garage … and a witch in his shed, ghouls in the yard and other spooky monstrosities that have been taking over his Academy Street home in recent weeks. For the six years he’s lived in Montesano, Hensley has transformed the yard into the Hensley Cemetery; this is the first year at the new home he moved into this year. No new attractions have been added, as he’s been busy with the move, he said.

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Montesano’s hidden gem Sylvia Creek Forest Trail
How long: 2 miles round trip.
How hard: Relatively easy.
How to get there: From Pioneer Avenue (the main East-West thoroughfare) in Montesano, turn north on Third Street. Continue straight ahead onto Sylvia Lake Road. There are signs, but they don’t direct one all the way to the park. At the park entrance, cross the bridge on the left and park near the beach. Follow the paved trail south to the dam. The trailhead is on the right. For more information on the trail, visit www.montesano.us/forestry_Sylvia_Creek_Trail.htm.

Eagle defense leads way to victory over Bobcats
ABERDEEN — A handful of defensive plays helped Elma hold Aberdeen in crucial moments and allowed the Eagles to collect their first league victory, a 14-2 2A Evergreen Conference football edging of the Bobcats on Friday, Oct. 23, at Stewart Field. The first half was an evenly played affair, at least on the scoreboard. Aberdeen was able to reach the end zone once over the first two quarters, when Jordy Roberts punched it in from 6-yards out to begin the second frame.